Making partnerships work: practical strategies for building successful collaborations

This chapter emphasises the key role of inter-professional collaboration in developing a distinct and appealing student experience, recognising that students are more likely to engage with the professional and social service provision that will have a significant impact on their student experience if it is integrated within the academic sphere.Exploring first the advantages and challenges of partnership working and identifying 5 principles which characterise successful collaboration, it offers 7 themes with practical actions that are central to effective collaboration. These approaches begin with the early stages of connecting aims through sound evidence base, identifying stakeholders and collaborators and their roles and responsibilities, through to sustaining partnerships through communication, measuring effectiveness and responding to change.While there is a long-standing body of literature about collaborative, inter-professional working in other sectors such as healthcare, there is very little that relates to higher education. This research, drawing on a project to develop a ‘toolkit’ for use in universities, offers a practical and evidence-based foundation on which to build better partnerships